Development of functional technical textiles with TiO2 nanoparticle based nanocomposites & nanohybrids

The development of nanotechnology and its importance in the textile industry have been investigated in detail together with advancing technology every single day. Nanotechnology becomes very popular in textile finishing processes. It provides more functional properties in comparison with traditional textile applications. In this study, nano titanium dioxide (TiO2) was coated with silver nanoparticles (Ag) and gold nanoparticles (Au). After preparing TiO2@Ag, TiO2@Au nano chemicals, their dimensional analyses were carried out. These nano chemicals were applied on cotton/polyester fabric with using the traditional pad-dry-cure and novel electrospraying methods. Processing conditions for the electrospraying method and properties of suspensions were determined. The electrospraying method provided less chemical agent usage compared to the traditional pad-dry-cure method. In addition, fabrics were modified with functional end group-containing carboxylic acids thiol (mercaptan) before they were coated with nano-chemicals in order to form a strong covalent bond of metal-sulphur (M-S) between nano chemicals and the thiol groups in the functional end on the surface of fabrics. The water contact angle measurements were conducted for the control and the coated fabrics. Superhydrophobic fabric surfaces were successfully obtained for the coated fabrics. Nano TiO2, TiO2@Ag, TiO2@Au chemicals have also a photocatalytic property. Therefore, the satisfactory self-cleaning properties for the coated fabrics have been observed under UV light. The fabric comfort properties were interpreted by testing the water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) and air permeability of the modified fabrics. Our results suggested that the comfort characteristics of the coated fabrics did not change significantly compared to the control fabric. Antibacterial properties of the coated fabrics with TiO2, TiO2@Au, and TiO2@Ag nano chemicals were determined. Also, the durabilities of the obtained functionalities on the surface of the coated fabrics were examined by means of SEM images taken before and after washing and abrasion treatments. Our results showed that the coating is durable and the coated fabrics are highly antibacterial with other desired functional properties.